Claude Alexander Allen Accused of Using Hatchet In Homicide in Gaithersburg

Police have identified the suspect as Claude Alexander Allen, age 20. Allen has been taken into custody and charged with homicide

GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WUSA9) -- Police called to investigate a burglary in Gaithersburg have discovered a gruesome homicide scene instead.

According to Captain Jim Daly, spokesman for the Montgomery County Police Department, officers responded to a burglary call shortly after midnight in the 7200 block of Cliff Pines Drive. Capt. Daly says the caller reported a man had tried to break in to the residence and that he had killed the suspect.

Officers arrived at the scene and found the caller and a deceased man. A preliminary investigation has revealed there was no burglary, and that the caller and the victim knew each other.

Detectives believe the suspect attacked the man with a hatchet. The victim's body was located in a wooded area behind the residence, Daly said. It appareas that the victim was killed inside the house and then dragged to the woods nearby, officials tell WUSA 9's Delia Goncalves.

Police have identified the suspect as Claude Alexander Allen, age 20. Allen has been taken into custody and charged with homicide. Major Crimes Division detectives are still on the scene and continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding incident.

WNEW reports that court records indicate Allen is the son of former Bush aide Claude Allen, who shoplifted a Germantown Target in 2006.